I believe that success – whether personal or professional – is generated from three critical building blocks: knowledge, critical thinking, and curiosity. These building blocks have an enduring, cyclical relationship; knowledge helps us to understand the world around us as well as ourselves, critical thinking gives us the ability to incorporate knowledge and apply it endlessly, and curiosity, which is the result of realizing the limitations of current knowledge, drives us to acquire additional knowledge.

I was reading an article that describes the attempts of a marketing department to standardize the various sections of an introductory principles of marketing course. In one part of the article the authors identify a number of benefits that accrue when there is consistency between sections. The fact that in many departments multiple sections of the same course are only loosely similar is a problem, and getting faculty all on the same page conceptually and pragmatically is also a problem. The experiences and results reported in the article are interesting.

That persona we don when standing before students is what Jay Parini refers to as a “teaching mask.”

In their new book, Designing Effective Assessment: Principles and Profiles of Good Practice, Trudy Banta, Elizabeth Jones, and Karen Black provide assessment profiles from a wide variety of institutions and units.

Have you considered submitting a program proposal for the 2010 Teaching Professor Conference? You should and you’ll find all the information you need to do so at www.teachingprofessor.com/conference/proposals. The deadline for program proposals is October 31, 2009.

Andrea Henne, dean of online and distributed learning in the San Diego Community College District, recommends creating online courses composed of modules—discrete, self-contained learning experiences—and uses a course development method that specifies what to include in each module.

If you are part of a social network, you may have already had this experience: a current or former student attempts to "friend" you online. Whether you keep a professional profile or offer a more casual representation of yourself online, keep the following teaching concerns in mind.

Despite the admirable goal of improving student learning by assessment, many faculty members are uneasy about participating in assessment-related activities. One way to overcome negative feelings about assessment while promoting improved student learning is to encourage faculty to engage in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

What makes students hate group work? A 2003 study found that getting a poor grade on a group project and having a free-rider in the group were the two factors most highly predictive of negative attitudes toward group work. Students want to be in groups where the work is shared equally—don’t we all? So what can teachers and students do to handle the problem of group members who do not do their fair share of the work?